The present invention relates to a method of and system for employee business conduct guidelines education.
It is well known that a company which operates in the United States is subject to a wide range of federal, state and local laws governing the ethical conduct of the company and its employees in the marketplace. These laws and regulations include but are not limited to major areas such as: discrimination, sexual harassment, antitrust legislation, insider trading, substance abuse, environmental protection, marketing in the public sector, theft of company assets, etc.
In addition, many companies in their ethics codes bar behavior which is necessarily illegal but is counter-productive or otherwise damaging to the company. When employees violate these laws, regulations and rules, the process of investigating, litigating and initiating corrective actions can be very disruptive on company operations. In the case of litigation, legal fees, plus settlement or actual punitive damages can also become exceedingly expensive.
Many companies are finding that educating their managers and employees on all of the rules and regulations governing ethical conduct in the workplace is a major investment of manpower and time. Yet even the best traditional education is not 100% effective in ensuring that every manager and employee understands what is expected of them. In landmark decisions at state and federal levels, courts have found that company policies and codes of conduct have either not been explicit enough, or individuals have not all received adequate and recent education to help them understand the details of the applicable laws and regulations.